This invention relates in general to systems for analyzing and synthesizing the syntactic construction of a complete thought expressed in the English language by categorizing each major constituent of the expressed thought into one of a set of categories, and in particular to such systems wherein a user of such systems is aided by diagrammatic representations, or schemas, of the categories and their interrelationships.
All communications in the English language can be separated into discrete, complete thoughts, each such thought being called a "sentence." Each discrete, complete thought is comprised of foundation elements, modifiers, and function words. As used hereinafter the meaning of the term "sentence" (and its plural forms) includes any expression of such a discrete, complete thought.
This invention presents a novel and unique system comprising a method of syntactically categorizing the constituents of any English language sentence and a diagrammatic representation, or schema, of the categories and their interrelationships. The schema is used as an aid to analyze and/or synthesize sentences. The schema is, in effect, a linguistic template for testing the accuracy of the syntactical construct or form of a sentence.
When a person becomes familiar with the system and its schema, the person's ability to recognize phrases and clauses is generally increased as is his or her speed of recognition. The use of the system and its schema helps the user to perceive and separate the foundation elements and their modifiers. In the mind's eye the foundation elements are seen as figures in bold relief against a background of modifiers.
Knowledge of what makes successful learning has essentially not changed. In the early nineteen hundreds, Dewey (Dewey, J. How We Think, Boston: D.C. Health, 1910) and Thorndike (Thorndike, E. L. Reading as reasoning: a study of mistakes in paragraph reading., Journal of Educational Psychology, 1917, 8, 323-332) insisted that to be successful learners must analyze themselves as to their strengths and weaknesses, know the task, and actively seek meaning and relationships. Today we call this metacognition. Today's "students at risk" who are employing text processing, selective attention, cue retrieval, self-questioning strategies, self-monitoring, etc. need more. The rote memory of abstract grammar rules will not assist them in their desire to improve their communication in written and oral expression. The use of a comprehensive, concrete, language syntax roadmap may help those who are lost in the maze, those who feel insecure in the use of their language, and those who would like to improve their language competency. Thus, This invention is useful for all pursuers of communication competency--those in the school, the home, and the working world. It is especially needed by those encountering language communication problems-those students in remedial education, in special education, and minority and ESL students. Language is used to communicate with one's self and with others. The more competent a person is in this symbolic manipulation, the more efficient, effective, and harmonious the person will be with himself and others.
It is time to streamline grammar instruction. As far back as 1950, Margaret Mead said that every three of four years education needs a new theory. (Carroll, J. B. Comments on: Comprehension during the acquisition of decoding skills. In J. T. Guthrie (Ed.), Cognition, curriculum, and comprehension. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1977) It was surmised that her comment was probably prompted by the commonly held thought that those interested in successful education must constantly rethink their objectives and methods until there is evidence inside and outside the classroom that students are successful. In "A Nation Prepared:Teachers for the 21st Century", the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy (1986) called, not for the repair, but for the rebuilding of the present education system. They stated that we need teaching that goes beyond acquiring a stock of facts to one in which students become adept at thinking for themselves.
It is commonly acknowledged that the heart of thinking is in the partnership between semantics and grammar. We have been told that transformational grammar has lost its glow because of its abstraction and complexity understandable only to linguists. (Peters and Waterman, 1982) What is needed, said Henry (Henry, G. H. Teaching reading as conceptual development. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1974), for the common condition that students do not understand grammar but have merely a superficial knowledge of isolated elements is the possession of a whole map with its pieces and relationships explicitly taught. This invention provides just that. This invention puts into bold, understandable relief a comprehensive, complex English grammar system. It is not abstract, and one does not have to be a linguist to understand it. Not only is it a multisensory approach using graphics and color mnemonics but it is a multimodal approach integrating perceptual, cognitive, and procedural strategies.
The grammar of a language is the system by which symbolic units represent meaning. The syntax or sentence structure word order is the major feature of the syntax. The eight parts of speech are the words in the syntax. Of these eight words, the major essentials of human thought are expressed by nouns, pronouns, and verbs which the system of this invention considers the FOUNDATION WORDS of thought. Adjectives and adverbs are MODIFIERS of foundation words. In addition to these five, the three remaining parts of speech, the preposition, conjunction, and interjection are considered function words. Goodman (Goodman, K. S. Reading: a psycholinguistic guessing game. In H. Singer & R. B. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1967), and others have said that function words have no lexical meaning but they make it possible to create sentence patterns to express virtually unlimited meanings. To place meaning on the prepositional word rather than the prepositional phrase is to create a roadblock in efficient and effective communication. Foust (Foust, C. D. The relationships between understanding prepositions and reading comprehension, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 1975) came to this deadend when his subjects showed that they could use prepositions quite early but they were unable to define their meaning. This is understandable because meaning is in the larger prepositional phrase unit and not in the preposition word. The same can be said for the subordinate conjunction and relative pronoun in relation to the larger adjective and adverb clause structures. Phrases and dependent clause structures are interpreted as cohesive meaning structures--not as strings of singly important words. For example, the following constructions have the same meaning: The tanned lifeguard is John; the lifeguard with a tan is John; the lifeguard who has a tan is John. The surface structures of word-phrase-clause adjective modifier are transforms of the deep structure, "tan" meaning. The outward form looks different, but the meaning is the same. The user learns to perceive prepositional phrases and subordinate clauses as single units which are adjective or adverb chunk modifiers. A figure-ground perceptual relationship exists. "One cannot see the trees for the forest" is a famous analogy. Sentence meaning can be obscured by the forest of modifiers and function words surrounding the main sentence's subject-verb-object, etc. This invention accents focusing on the Foundation Words as FIGURES while at the same time being aware of the Modifiers (word-phrase-clause) as BACKGROUND. Meaning is kept in bold relief. Meaning has the highest focus, and the formula to extract the meaning is part of the procedural strategy. Meaning is developed from the self-questioning strategy of asking: Which who-did-which-what-how-why-when-where-extent, etc. Guthrie (Guthrie J. T. Reading comprehension processes and instruction. In J. T. Guthrie (Ed.), Cognition, curriculum, and comprehension. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1977) believes that the learner should be taught to locate these grammatical constituents in order to be able to answer these explicit questions.
Beck (Beck, I. L. Comments on: Development parameters of reading comprehension. In J. T. Guthrie (Ed.), Cognition, curriculum, and comprehension. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1977) has mentioned the need to teach comprehension rather than emphasize attention to textual material and activities which enhance word recognition. Gibson (Gibson, E. J. Trends in perceptual development: Implications for the reading process. In H. Singer & R. B. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading. Newark, Del.: International Reading Association, 1985) is a well known perceptual psychologist who agreed with those who like Huey (Huey, E. B. The psychology and pedagogy of reading. New York: Macmillan, 1908) said that the reader's acquirement of ease and power in reading comes through increasing ability to read in larger units. Her perceptual studies led her to conclude that there are rules or predictable relations within words, and there are relations, syntactical rules and meaningful relations between words in phrases, sentences and passages of discourse. She mentioned that learners actively search for a target. The learner seeks to know who-did-what. Schools have concentrated more on Learning to Read than Reading to Learn. This invention is an attempt to replace word-by-word reading with the strategy of reading for meaning by getting answers to meaningful questions by processing meaningful cohesive syntax content.
This invention has addressed the ambiguity of complex abstract content by expressing the content concretely and graphically. Within current cognitive theory, it is mentioned that the learner has a tolerance for ambiguity. As a safety valve against permanent overload, the learner searches to break down complex content into component parts which are understood in relation to the whole. In order for the learner to confront difficult learning and endure ambiguity during difficult stages, the learner must be convinced that eventually he or she will have control. With the use of this invention, the student can predict the results with confidence and certainty. His or her possession of a usable map, i.e., schema inspires and generates more learning and inquiry. Knowing the schema and using the schema are the basis of language production. Personal satisfaction in being able to create something of one's own is highly absorbing and challenging. Positive self-attribution influences the quality of one's learning. The goal of education is to bring the factors in controlling comprehension under the control of the learner. Metacognition encompasses the learner's text processing, selective attention, cue retrieval, self-questioning strategies, self-monitoring, etc. Metacognition is the knowledge the learner has about his own learning resources, the learning task, and the ability to reflect on one's own cognitive processes. It is to be conscious of one's self, to plan one's next move, to check the outcome of one's strategy, to monitor the effectiveness of one's effort, and to test, revise,, and evaluate one's learning strategies. Students with learning problems seem less able to be aware of these variables and what to do where there is a problem. The evidence is clear that our "Nation At Risk" has too many school failures. Leaders of industry complain about the poor receptive and expressive language skills of their employees. This invention is an attempt to assist materially with these problems. This invention has universal use. It is useful from those who are literate to those with language limitations regardless of what they do for a living.
Other advantages and attributes of this invention will be readily discernible upon a reading of the text hereinafter.